The Daily Source of Urban Planning News

Salt Lake City

20 Years Later: Envision Utah's Quality Growth Strategy Deemed a Massive Success

The state of Utah created Envision Utah in the late 1990s to address growth while maintaining quality of life and protecting the environment in the state. The plan set goals for 2020, so it's time to evaluate its success.

July 16 - The Salt Lake Tribune

Ithaca, New York

Obstacles Remain in the First U.S. City to Cancel Rent

Ithaca took historic action by passing a resolution to offer rent forgiveness to support its large population of renters during the current economic crisis. The city still has work to do to deliver on that promise.

July 16 - Shelterforce

Infrastructure

Trump's Latest Deregulatory Itch: The National Environmental Policy Act

In a move called "one of the biggest — and most audacious — deregulatory actions of the Trump administration," President Trump yesterday announced plans to weaken the National Environmental Policy Act for federal infrastructure projects.

July 16 - The New York Times

New York Development

PLANOPEDIA

What Are Zoning Codes?

Local governments use zoning codes to define what can and cannot be built. While comprehensive plans and other kinds of plans lay out a vision for the future, zoning codes offer the legal tools to implement that vision.

July 15 - James Brasuell

Cincinnati, Ohio

Past Civil Unrest Sets the Table for Today's Gentrification

The story is similar in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami, Cincinnati, and Boston: scenes of widespread destruction—the fires, looting, and property damage of civil unrest—sow the seeds for redevelopment and gentrification.

July 15 - The New York Times


Coronavirus and Urbanism

Learning from Down Under

The governors of Arizona, California, Florida, Texas, and other states where COVID-19 infections are threatening to overwhelm hospitals should consider what their counterpart in Victoria, Australia, did on July 7 to contain the coronavirus.

July 15 - The Guardian

Honolulu, Hawaii

Successful Honolulu Open Street Program Extended

Due to its popularity, Honolulu is extending the Kalakaua Open Street Sundays program through the end of July. The program was first launched on June 14 in a collaboration between the city and the Hawaii Bicycling League.

July 15 - Pacific Business News


Cities for People

FEATURE

Jan Gehl on 60 Years of Designing Cities for People

The 10th anniversary of "Cities for People" offers the occasion for this interview with Jan Gehl, who has devoted a 60-year career to ideas about humanistic city planning—ideas of increasing relevance in 2020.

July 15 - Jan Gehl

Highway Widening

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Maryland's Big Highway Widening Project Released

The state of Maryland is moving forward with a highway widening plan that would spend $11 billion in a private-partnership to add toll lanes to two Capital Beltway highways.

July 15 - DCist

Down Payment

U.S. Mortgage Delinquencies Spike

The popularity of the mortgage forbearance program enabled by the CARES Act is one reason not to fear a housing crash like the Great Recession, yet.

July 15 - The Washington Post

New York City Traffic Cop

Federal Inaction Delays Congestion Pricing by at Least a Year in New York City

Bad news for one of the most innovative transportation planning schemes in the country, with long-term impacts on planning and construction in New York City.

July 15 - New York Daily News

London Bridge

London to Replace 2,000 Car Parking Spots With Bike Storage

London announced another sweeping round of changes to its transportation priority, further cementing the future of active transportation both during and after the pandemic.

July 15 - Forbes

Police Enfocement

Berkeley City Council Considers Relieving Police From Traffic Stop Duties

Unarmed public works officials could replace Berkeley Police officers in monitoring minor traffic violations pending approval of a proposal to be considered by the Berkeley City Council.

July 14 - The New York Times

Coronavirus Protest

California Rolls Back

The nation's most significant rollback to date of a state reopening plan occurred Monday when California Gov. Gavin Newsom closed seven categories of indoor businesses statewide and an additional six categories of indoor operations in 31 counties.

July 14 - San Francisco Chronicle

African American

New Homes Selling Like Hotcakes

New homes, located mostly on the fringe of developed areas, are selling at a torrid pace this summer.

July 14 - CNBC

Choice Neighborhoods

Lawyers Connect Breonna Taylor's Murder to Choice Neighborhoods Initiative in Louisville

The lawyers for Breonna Taylor accuse police in Louisville of acting on behalf of a redevelopment plan led by the city with funding support from the federal government.

July 14 - Louisville Courier Journal

Coronavirus

'Metro Recovery Index' Measures the Impact of the Pandemic and the Trajectory of the Recovery

Brookings has released a new tool for measuring the impact of the coronavirus on local economies across the country, as well as the effectiveness of economic recovery efforts.

July 14 - Brookings

COVID-19

Resurgence Delayed—or a Pandemic Exodus?

In this interview with Emily Badger of the New York Times, Natalie Moore of WBEZ Chicago, and Amanda Kolson Hurley of Bloomberg Businessweek, Slate's Henry Grabar asks about the future viability of America's cities and suburbs in a time of COVID-19

July 14 - Slate

Bus Lane

More Bus Lanes Coming to the Nation's Capital

Three new stretches of street will prioritize bus traffic in Washington, D.C. in the name of faster service and social distancing.

July 14 - DCist

New York City Subway

New Model for Federal Funding Needed for Emergency Public Transit Funding

The federal funding for public transit systems created by the CARES Act followed the normal federal funding formulas, which don't adequately respond to the realities of the pandemic, according to TransitCenter.

July 14 - TransitCenter

Post News
Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.